So today is NHL draft day for 2013 (1pm MST). Typically, the NHL splits up round 1 and round 2-7 into separate days, but they’re doing it all in one shot this year, because it’s going so late (it’s about a week late).

The Avalanche have made no secret that they are selecting Nathan MacKinnon first overall. Some believe this to be posturing. I don’t know. Seems like it really is what they’ll do. I can’t see them flipping picks with anyone, and as some have said.. why be secret about it if you really know who you want? If they are hard set on MacKinnon, they wouldn’t drop down and risk losing him. So I expect the first 4 picks to go: Nathan MacKinnon (COL), Seth Jones (FLA), Jonathan Drouin (TBL), Sasha Barkov (NSH). I’m hoping that the Oilers get to take either Sean Monahan or Darnell Nurse. Organization depth at centre is terrible. Monahan would help that out a bit. As or Nurse, he looks to be a pretty well-rounded D with a strong focus on defense and physicality (making him my favorite type of defenseman).

There have been a heck of a lot of rumors involving the Oilers, as of late. The latest buzz seems to be around Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn. It sounds like he may be providing a list of teams of where he’d accept a trade to… he has a limited No Trade Clause. This brings me to one point about the Oilers. No way in hell would a guy like Braydon Coburn have a NTC on the Oilers. Say what you will about the team, but that is one thing they’ve been doing right for several years, and I applaud them. I like Coburn, but I’m not sure how the heck a guy like him got a NTC.

Also said to be in play (but no involvement by Oilers, I don’t think) is Cory Schneider. Sounds like it’s been too hard to move the big @Strombone1 contract anywhere, so they are expected to move Schneider. He will garner a heck of a lot of interest around the league.

Letang re-signed with the Penguins today. I’d imagine he still gets moved. The contract is for 8 years with an average of $7.25M, and he has a limited No Trade Clause (15 teams). I can see him being dealt still, as that is a lot of money to tie up. I have hopes it is not to the Oilers, as I think that is just too much money, even though he is quite good.

Terry Jones speculates that the Oilers will have 3 new faces today that don’t come via the draft. I’d be surprised if we had even one, but one GM did say that MacTavish has his fingers in everything. He’s been extremely busy, which seems to be a stark contrast to the former GM here. It IS one thing to want a deal, however. But, at least he’s doing a lot of work. That’s all we can really ask, I suppose.

We will do a live blog here of the players selected by the Oilers, and eventually do a write up on impressions of this year’s draft and Oilers acquisitions.

7th overall – Darnell Nurse, a hulking left-shot defenseman who played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He had 12 goals, 29 assists in 68 games last year.
56th overall – Marc-Olivier Roy, a slightly smaller center playing for the Armada of the Q’. He had 29 goals and 38 assists in 65 games last year.
83rd overall – Bogdan Yakimov, a very big center that seems to have skating issues, but is strong on the puck. Looks like a bit of a project. He played with Reaktor Nizhnekamsk if the MHL (Russian Minor Hockey League) last year.
88th overall – Anton Slepyshev, another big Russian.. this time a left winger. Doesn’t look like there is a tonne of offense in there, but who knows. He did spend some time in the KHL last year, at least.
94th overall – Jackson Houck – a right winger, 6’0, 185 lbs, who led the Vancouver Giants in scoring last year with 57 points in 69 games.
96th overall – Kyle Platzer, 5’11, 184 lbs center / right wing with the London Knights. He had 5 goals, 17 assists in 65 games last year.
113rd overall – Aidan Muir, a big center who will go the College route as of next year.
128th overall – Evan Campbell, a bigger left winger playing with the Langley Rivermen of the BCHL. He had 20 goals, 46 assists in 51 games last year.
158th overall – Ben Betker a big defenseman playing with Everett Silvertips of the WHL. He had 6 points in 68 games last year.
188th overall – Greg Chase, a 6’0 190 lbs center playing with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL. He had 17 goals and 32 assists in 69 games last year. He is nephew to former NHLer Kelly Chase.

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25 Responses to “Draft Day, and Frequent Rumor But No Action Day”

I am a bit worried about the continued goalie trade talks involving the Oilers. Personally I don’t think Dubnyk’s play has merited the comments MacTavish made. I’d much rather they used all their attention, time and assets on finding defensemen that can play NHL hockey. That will make Dubnyk look that much better. Putting a great goalie in front of our current group, even with a decent trade add-on, will make less of a difference and cost much more.

NorwegianOiler:
I am a bit worried about the continued goalie trade talks involving the Oilers. Personally I don’t think Dubnyk’s play has merited the comments MacTavish made. I’d much rather they used all their attention, time and assets on finding defensemen that can play NHL hockey. That will make Dubnyk look that much better. Putting a great goalie in front of our current group, even with a decent trade add-on, will make less of a difference and cost much more.

Gotta agree with that. I still think D is the biggest weakness on this team, even with the prospects we have down the pipeline. You can never have enough blueline depth and Klefbomb has missed a lot of time over the past 2 seasons so I still think he is a year away.

On the other hand an elite goalie can make a world of difference. Look at how long Kipper kept the Flames out of being a lottery team for example.

One thing I do know is that I wouldn’t give up the 1st round pick + a prospect that the Nuck want in return for Cory Schneider. I’d rather sign a guy like Emery and keep those assets(potentially for another move).

Racki:
So now there are rumors that the Bruins made Tyler Seguin available, and are possibly considering a deal involving Horton too. I have to say that sounds up the Oilers’ alley.. but of course that would be up a lot of teams’ alley.

I think we could make that trade happen. We might have to give up an Eberle or Yakupov. Would it be worth it? Seguin takes a lot of heat there, for some reason. I think I’d welcome him here with open arms anyways, even though I (along with most everyone) feel we made the right choice in that draft.

Imagine if we could swing Seguin; no more Tyler vs Taylor talk! Having said that if MacT trades Eberle for ANYONE I am done with the Oilers. He is the best money in the bank 30-40 goal forward with ridiculous hockey sense & sweet hands this franchise has had since Kurri IMO. I don’t see this team ever winning another cup without Eberle and Hall. Yakupov is a dynamic & skilled player in his own rite & therefore a valuable player or trading piece but for my team I’d keep Ebs over Yak 100% of the time.

Yakupov for Seguin I would do without even thinking twice about, even if I had to throw a 4th pick or something similar in. Then go sign Lecavalier & the Oilers have one of the strongest center ice line-ups in the league

Since MacTavish came out with the “bold” approach comments the Oilers have found themselves in the midst of just about every hockey rumor there has been. Most of which have been, in my eyes, unfavourable for us.

The link to Letang, as we’ve discussed, implied moving a good, cheap NHL defenseman, a great pick and a young quality forward for a very talented, albeit future overpaid small defenseman. Not good.

The Schneider suggestions baffles me more. Dubnyk’s qualities were questioned openly by MacTavish, who might go chasing after another goalie who may or may not be better. Thinking counterfactually, Dubnyk might well have done similarly to Schneider at a good Vancouver club. Giving up any significant assets for Schneider would be redundant and unwise.

I like the Coburn links, he’s an all round fine defenseman who would improve our blueline considerably. The asking price has ranged from the 1st and a prospect (again, Pääjärvi) to a mere 2nd rounder and some bits. I would not give up too much for Coburn, who after all might be a tad overpriced and lacking the very elite level required to be anything but a top 4 guy. I’d like for this to be a Musil + 2nd rounder type deal.

Clutterbuck was mentioned, though the suggested return of Pitlick seems far fetched. Fine checking liner, though not one of my absolute favorites. A better fantasy player than actual player?

The Hemsky rumors, labelled near-certain, weren’t too bad, especially the best case scenario I read, which was Greening + Smith for Hemmer. It’s a let down that Hemsky wouldn’t get you more, but his value has dropped. I wouldn’t be too excited about the Smith for Hemmer deal, but with Greening in there it would surely boost our bottom 6.

I’ve seen little Horcoff chatter, but that’s to be expected. I wish we could have kept him at a 2M salary, but alas, Lowe sent that train off a cliff a long time ago.

Dos and don’ts of the next few weeks:
* Do secure at least one, preferably two, NHL calibre all-round defensemen (no one-dimensional brick wall guys)
* Do secure three bottom 6 players, one of which must be a center. Must have some skill and be able to win 1 on 1 battles.
* Do sign Gagner (lower 4Ms over at least 4 years)
* Do sign Pääjärvi (less than 2M over at least 2 years)
* Do trade for or sign a backup netminder (Martin Biron?)
* Do make a bid for Johnny Boychuk and Braydon Coburn, but stop short if it takes more than a prospect and a lower pick. I wouldn’t give up the 1st unless more is coming our way (trading down, for example).

* Do not trade for an expensive starting goaltender.
* Do not overpay one of the “big” bottom 6 UFAs (Bickell types)
* Do not expect that playing Corey Potter quality players regularly will be a satisfactory solution.
* Do not sign Ryan Jones to more than 1.5M or 2 years.
* Do not sign any of Whitney, Smithson, Peckham, Petrell, even if they beg. Consider signing Fistric at 1M or less for a year as a 7 or 8 defenseman.
* Do not trade Petry or Smid, even if it is a slight upgrade (Petry and a lot for Letang type deal). Petry and Smid are good enough, not entirely overpaid, and should thus be kept.

I at least partially agree with most of what NO states. Include me in the club who is scared that MacT will pull the trigger on some serious overpayments just to get a deal done. The rumor of Oilers giving #6 plus a prospect to Van for Schnieder has me churning with anger if this is indeed true.

I have not heard any substantiated rumor involving Schneider to the Oilers. I didn’t read the Bleacher Report link you posted above, but that’s about as reliable as Hockey Buzz (which is why I didn’t read it)… actually probably less reliable than them. Also, I really doubt the Canucks would trade with the Oilers anyways.

That said, I would welcome a guy like Schneider here. But I do believe in what NorOil said to.. the team definitely needs better defense first. If there are places they’re going to overpay, for me it would be on a complete defenseman (not Letang, for me) or a big centreman with skill, defensive ability, faceoff ability, etc. Other than that, the cash should be saved. We’ll need it down the road.

That #7 could be gold too, so I don’t think it should be traded at all, unless we’re moving up (doubtful).

FYI, just saw this tweet from Rishaug: “My sense is the Oilers feel Schneider would be an upgrade. But not a massive one, so they won’t pay a massive price to get him.”

john:
I at least partially agree with most of what NO states. Include me in the club who is scared that MacT will pull the trigger on some serious overpayments just to get a deal done. The rumor of Oilers giving #6 plus a prospect to Van for Schnieder has me churning with anger if this is indeed true.

#7 I meant, not used to picking after Calgary ha! As for the Schnieder trade, McKenzie was the one who brought it up & said he was of the understanding that the Oilers were “more than willing to pay the asking price”, scary. The link I posted was in refference to the potential Coburn aquisition.

BTW, sounds like the Fourth Period is saying the Oilers had talked to Columbus about a deal that involves Bobrovsk for the 7th + Dubnyk. He clarified saying that the return would NOT just be Bobrovsky alone.

john: #7 I meant, not used to picking after Calgary ha! As for the Schnieder trade, McKenzie was the one who brought it up & said he was of the understanding that the Oilers were “more than willing to pay the asking price”, scary. The link I posted was in refference to the potential Coburn aquisition.

Oh wow.. yikes. I wonder what the asking price is, however. If it’s the 1st, that is a pretty steep price to pay. I do think Schneider is an almost sure shot to make the team better, but I really value that #7 pick in this year’s draft.

Racki:
BTW, sounds like the Fourth Period is saying the Oilers had talked to Columbus about a deal that involves Bobrovsk for the 7th + Dubnyk. He clarified saying that the return would NOT just be Bobrovsky alone.

Well there we go, Oilers get their picks & no trades or aquisitions as per the hundreds of rumors floating around today. Sounds like there were lots of deals to be made but all involved reaming the Oilers hard without any lube so to speak! This looks like another case of “The best deals being the ones you don’t make”. Shame though as I was really hoping MacT would be able to make a couple moves to expedite the improvement of the blueline before the Free Agent Frenzy where everyone overpays & most don’t come out that far ahead for it.

Today might be a sad dose of reality here, showing us how hard it really is to make deals. But I do like that MacTavish at least kept busy today. He had a bunch of chats with Holmgren (trying to get Coburn)… this could still happen. He also talked to Buffalo some.. not sure about what.. maybe just pick swapping.

He did manage to scatter-shot some picks today after turning a 2nd into a 3rd, 4th and fifth, and then the 3rd rounders into 2 3rds and a 4th.

In other words, he turned one 2nd rounder into 2 3rd rounders, 2 4th rounders, and a 5th round pick. I don’t mind that at all, even though those 2nd round picks SHOULD be more valuable. Five shots at potentially landing a sleeper pick.. I don’t mind that.

I think the goalie chasing should be along the lines of a value signing.. maybe Khudobin if the price is right, but likely a Thomas, or Emery if they can be signed for a decent contract.. maybe Nabby. I assume with Thomas missing a year, that would be likely.. but there are a few teams looking at goalies, such as the Flyers.. so who knows.

After the dust settled & I took a look at what the Oilers got yesterday I am a little dissapointed. Nurse should be a great pick with top D pairing potential in a couple years & Olivier-Roy may turn into a Burrows type skill/grit forward but beyond that it’s mostly projects & long shots IMO.

Still hoping MacT & Holmgren can hash out a deal for Coburn which might be a little easier now with the draft picks out of the way, at least this years anyway!

I like Talbot, and Coburn individually, but that strikes me as a tough price to pay, since we have some good hope for Marincin… and well, Paajarvi may be better if we’re patient. But as it stands today, that would be a good deal for us.

At LW.. sleeper is Clowe (albeit a small sleeper, since he will get some interest.. just not as much). Most teams will go for Clarkson or Horton, but I think Clowe is still a decent player. Put him on a line with Talbot and a solid RWer, and they could fly. Maybe even just Ryan Jones is all you need there. As you can guess, this isn’t a 2nd line LWer option though.. this is more of a 3rd or 4th line idea.

For 2nd line left winger.. I’d say Gagner I’m not sure if he can play that side or prefers right.. but I still think he needs to be a winger if he stays here.. but we’d still need a centerman. God it’s not a promising market out there.

Wonder if instead of Talbot, Homer would give up Couturier.. if we padded our side of things more.

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